


Truth within the Whispers

by arch_cape522



Series: Flufftober 2020 [13]
Category: Shadowhunters (TV)
Genre: Alec Lightwood Deserves Nice Things, Break Up, Communication Failure, Fluff and Angst, Flufftober, Flufftober 2020, Idiots in Love, M/M, Magnus Bane Deserves Nice Things, Misunderstandings, Post-Break Up, Tags Are Hard, Whispers, communication is key
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2020-10-22
Updated: 2020-10-22
Packaged: 2021-03-08 20:27:17
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 3,111
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/27142426
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/arch_cape522/pseuds/arch_cape522
Summary: Sometimes whispers are unspoken truths.
Relationships: Magnus Bane/Alec Lightwood
Series: Flufftober 2020 [13]
Series URL: https://archiveofourown.org/series/1954840
Comments: 6
Kudos: 53





	Truth within the Whispers

**Author's Note:**

> Prompt #13: Whispers
> 
> So, I am not sure if this is considered "fluff" but I tired. Happy reading!

**One**

Alec was exhausted when he got home. It’s been a long stressful day dealing with numerous non-stop emergency calls at the station, and all he wanted to do now that he’s home was take a shower and crawl into bed. Setting his bag at the door and kicking off his shoes, Alec walked down the hall to his bedroom. The door was slightly open and light pouring through, causing Alec to smile; Magnus was there. 

Opening the door, Alec walked in and saw that Magnus was asleep, hugging Alec’s pillow. They have been dating for about a year now, and for the last few months, they took the next step in their relationship, exchange keys, and started to stay at one another’s place. Nights in which Alec has to work late, Magnus goes to his, and nights when Magnus has to work late, Alec goes there. 

Smiling, Alec walked over to the bed and sat down next to his sleeping boyfriend, gently running his fingers through his boyfriend’s hair and watched as Magnus moved deeper into his pillow. Alec leaned down and kissed Magnus’s forehead and sat back up. 

“I love you,” Alec whispered. They’ve been together for almost a year, and neither one of them uttered those three words to another. It wasn’t that Alec was afraid to, but he wasn’t sure if Magnus felt the same. So for now, Alec settled for whispering those three words until it feels right to tell Magnus without hiding behind whispers and silent glances. 

**Two**

Ale was sitting at the bar, looking out towards the crowd of people who were dancing, instantly spotting Magnus dancing with Catarina and Ragnor. Magnus was twirling Cat around, and Alec could tell he was laughing about something while Ragnor just stood there in place, moving his body back and forth to the beat. Alec knew that Ragnor was not much of a dancer, but he, just like himself, can’t say no when it comes to Magnus’s requests. 

“Magnus is having a good time out there,” Izzy said as she settled near Alec at the bar with a drink in hand. 

Alec turned to smile at his sister but didn’t say anything and looked back towards Magnus. Izzy was right, Magnus was having a good time, and it made Alec happy. It has been a stressful week for them both, and the urge to release some of that unwanted energy was necessary, and he was pleased that his family decided to come out with them. 

“It’s been a while since I’ve seen him smile,” Alec said quietly, not directing it at anyone, but it was true. It has been a while, and all he wants for Magnus is for him to be happy, so if he had to spend time at a bar with family, be it. 

“He makes you happy,” Izzy stated, looking at Alec, who had a small smile adorning his face. 

“He does,” Alec simply said, not taking his eyes off of Magnus. “I’m in love with him,” Alec whispered. 

“Alec,” Izzy said, touching Alec’s arm lightly, “does he know? Have you told him?” 

Alec shook his head. He hasn’t told Magnus he loves him, and Magnus never said anything either, but he knows that they both feel something more profound than fondness. 

“You should tell him, Alec,” Izzy said, bumping Alec’s side. 

Alec took his eyes off Magnus and his friends to smile at Izzy. “I will, Izzy,” Alec whispered. “One day, I will. 

**Three**

“Alexander,” Magnus sighed for the tenth time that night. “What do you want?”

Alec said nothing; instead, he looked down at his hands, not even bothering to look at Magnus. For the last week, they have been doing nothing but fighting. At this point, he doesn’t even know what the reason was anymore. It started from a simple missed dinner and escalated to a lack of communication to not staying at each other place.

“Maybe,” Magnus began to say, “maybe we should take a break.”

“What,” Alec whispered, not sure if he heard correctly. He knew that there were some distances between them, but he didn’t expect that he would listen to Magnus ask for a break. “You want to take a break,” Alec repeated. “For how long?”

Magnus sighed and ran his hand down his face. “I don’t know, Alexander. I just know us being around each other right now,” Magnus breathed, “we’re going to end up saying something that we won’t be able to come back from.”

Alec felt like his heart was breaking as if Magnus was saying goodbye. “Is this what you want to do,” Alec whispered.

“I think this is for the best,” Magnus replied with the hurt reflecting in his voice.

Alec got up from where he was sitting and stood by the window that was overlooking the city. The apartment was quiet, and he could hear Magnus in the bedroom packing his things, the opening of dresser drawers, and the zipping of a bag sounding loud in the quiet apartment. It was deafening. 

He could hear footsteps coming back into the living room, and he could see Magnus’s reflection in the glass. Alec wanted to turn around and say the three little words he’s been wanting to speak for the last couple of months, but at this moment, he knew all it would do is put a bandaid over hurt words, and it wouldn't be fair to either of them, so he stayed quiet. 

Alec closed his eyes as he heard the door open and the sound of a key placed on the table. Magnus was leaving, and he just let him with the whispers of  _ I love you  _ left unsaid. 

**Four**

It’s been a couple of weeks since Alec last saw Magnus. For the first few days after Magnus left, Alec went about pretending that nothing was wrong. He fooled Jace and Izzy completely until Izzy ran into Cat at the store and broke the news of their supposed break. Of course, Izzy came over that same day and reamed Alec out and then sat with him eating a bowl of mint chocolate ice cream because ice cream cures broken hearts. 

Two weeks later, Alec was sitting at home on the first quiet night he had in days and enjoying it until he heard a knock on his door. Sighing, he put his book down, got up, and walked to see who was at his door just to tell them to go away. 

Opening the door, Alec saw that it was Izzy and Jace. “What do you both want,” Alec sighed.

“Let us in, man,” Jace laughed, “and we’ll tell you.”

Alec stepped aside, opening the door wider to let his annoying siblings in, “okay, you’re inside. Now tell me what you want,” Alec sighed, closing the door and walking past his siblings back into the living room.

His siblings followed. “Alec,” Izzy began in a cheerful voice, “we are going out.”

“No,” Alec stated. 

“Dude, you’ve been cooped up in this apartment for weeks. The only time you leave is to go to work,” Jace said. “Now put on some clothes that aren’t sweatpants and an old sweater. We’re going out.”

Alec said nothing. He wasn’t in the mood to go out, but he knew that they wouldn’t leave him alone if he disagreed. “Fine,” Alec sighed. “Give me ten minutes.” 

Ten minutes later, Alec was ready and walking out the door with his siblings. “So where are we going,” Alec asked as he got into the passenger seat of Izzy’s car. 

“To a club, of course,” Jace answered instead of Izzy from the back seat. “We’re going to blow off some steam and maybe hook you up with someone,” Jace laughed.

“I don’t know if this little fact escaped you, Jace but Magnus and broke up a couple of weeks ago,” Alec stated. “I don’t want to, as you say, ‘hook up with someone.’ I’m not you. If this is what you both have planned, pull over and let me out.”

“Alec doesn't listen to Jace,” Izzy said calmly, “he’s an idiot. We just want you to have some fun. Okay?”

“Fine,” Alec responded and slumped back in his seat. “Fun,” he whispered as he watched the street lights disappear as they drove past. 

*

Of all the clubs Izzy could pick, it would be the one that Magnus frequents a lot. Alec hasn’t seen the other yet, but it doesn’t mean he wouldn’t be there. He knew that Izzy did this on purpose, and he hated that his sister was interfering, but at the same time, he longed to see Magnus, even if it was from a distance. 

“Izzy,” Alec said, walking next to her, “of all the places you chose this place.”

“I doubt he’s even here,” Izzy said as Jace went ahead to find a booth. “Even if he was, you can’t hide forever. You both have the same friends.” 

“That’s not the point,” Alec resigned. “Forget, let's find Jace.” 

Finding Jace was reasonably easy since it was a weekday night, and most people are at work or doing other things, and Alec was thankful for that. He didn’t want to be surrounded by people anyways. Alec was having a bit of fun but refused to admit to Izzy and Jace that they were right. He was thankful to his siblings, and it was one of the first nights that Magnus wasn’t always on his mind. 

“Who wants another beer,” Alec asked after drinking the little bit of liquid left in his bottle. 

“I can go for another,” Jace said as well as Izzy. 

“I’ll go grab some more,” Alec said as he got up from his seat, walking over to the bar. He ordered two beers and a whiskey on the rocks for himself. The bartender brought over the two beers, and Alec waited on his drink. 

“Whiskey on the rocks,” a voice said. 

Alec froze, knowing that voice from anywhere. Slowly turning around, he came face to face with Magnus, and he could feel his heart pounding in his chest. Two weeks, two weeks since Alec last saw him and Magnus could still make Alec’s heart skip a beat. “What are you doing here,” Alec said.

“You never called,” Magnus responded, avoiding Alec’s question, hurt laced in his voice. 

“Seriously,” Alec whispered back, anger lingering in his words. “You broke up with me, Magnus, not the other way around. You walked out of my apartment and left you, my key,” Alec corrected himself, “without looking back.” 

“But you kept mines,” Magnus said in response. 

“I did,” Alec stated. 

“Why,” Magnus questioned. 

“Because,” Alec sighed, “I hoped, me keeping your key, you would come back, and we can talk, but you never did.”

“Alec,” Magnus sighed and reached to touch Alec’s arm, but the other flinched away. 

“I have to go,” Alec quickly said as the bartender handed him his drink and grabbed the beers. “Jace and Izzy are waiting for me.” 

“I understand, Alexander,” Magnus reluctantly said. “There is one thing you got wrong, Alexander. This was never supposed to be a permanent thing,” Magnus said, waving his hand between them. “We needed space, and I am sorry if you thought otherwise,” Magnus finished, waiting for Alec to respond but didn’t. “I hope you know that I miss you,” Magnus added before he turned around, glancing at Alec one last time, and walked away. 

“I miss you too,” Alec whispered when Magnus was no longer standing next to him. He gathered the drinks, put on his poker face, and proceeded to walk back to his siblings, pretending his heart wasn't breaking once again. 

**Five.**

It’s been five days since Alec has seen Magnus, and they had their brief conversation at the bar, and now he was standing in front of Magnus’s door. He’s been standing here for the last five minutes, gathering up the courage to knock. He still had Magnus’s key, but they weren’t together, so it would be inappropriate to use it. After another five minutes, he quickly knocked on the door before deciding to chicken out and waited. He knocked again when no one answered the door, but once again, no one answered. Sighing, Alec turned away and started to leave when someone bumped into him when he rounded the corner. 

“Alexander,” Magnus said, voice lace with shock, “what are you doing here?” 

“I,” Alec said, catching his bearings, “I wanted to talk to you.” 

“You seem not to want to talk last week,” Magnus said hastily, walking past the other.

Alec followed suit, not wanting to let Magnus go without talking. He was scared that he wasn’t going to get this opportunity again. “Please, Magnus,” Alec begged as he grabbed Magnus’s arm, “I’m sorry about how I acted at the bar, but I was confused and hurt. Please,” Alec whispered. “Give me five minutes, and if we can’t work it out, I’ll leave.” 

“Fine,” Magnus gave in and unlocked his door, letting Alec in. 

Alec followed Magnus inside, and while Magnus walked down the hall to his room, Alec stood in the living, looking around and standing awkwardly in the center of the room. It’s been over a month since he was in Magnus’s apartment, and everything was the same. Alec missed the smoky, woodsy scent of Magnus’s place; he missed everything about the man in general. Looking at the sofa, he saw the box and on top of it was his favorite black sweater that mysteriously disappeared one day. Magnus had it this whole time, and Alec smiled sadly at the thought that Magnus would give all his things back without talking. 

“I had your things packed for a while now,” Magnus said as he stepped into the room, handing Alec a glass of whiskey. “I just,” Magnus paused, “I don’t know. I wasn’t ready to part with it yet. I hoped that you would come to see me, or I would give in and talk to you, but…” Magnus trailed off. “Regardless,” Magnus said instead of finishing his thought, “why are you here, Alexander?” 

“I miss you,” Alec answered. “I...missed you. I’m not sure what happened to us, the arguments, the distances between us, it just doesn’t make sense, Magnus. We were fine up to a point then we weren’t and,” 

“And I asked for a break,” Magnus finished. 

“And you asked for a break,” Alec repeated. “Why?”

Magnus sighed. “Remember the night before I asked for a break, and we had that fight about you not showing up to an event,” Magnus asked, seeing Alec nod his head to continue. “We exchanged some words out of frustration, and you walked out in the middle of the argument and didn’t come back that night. When you finally returned in the morning, we fought again about you walking out, and one thing led to another, and I asked for a break, hoping that time apart would help us, and we could talk without arguing.”

Alec took in Magnus’s words and laughed brokenly at the fact that this was all a colossal misunderstanding. “So when you asked for a break, you were not breaking up with me,” Alec said slowly, “but why did you give me back my key?”

“The look on your face,” Magnus answered. “You accepted everything so quickly, so I thought that you didn’t care. So I left the key behind, but you kept mine, and I hoped that that meant you would talk when you were ready, but you never did,” Magnus shrugged. 

“Fuck,” Alec said. “So all this heartbreak and shit was all a misunderstanding, and all we had to do was talk to one another,” Alec sighed, pacing back and forth. The weeks apart would have been avoided if they just acted like adults and talked about their problems instead of assuming things about one another. “What does this mean for us,” Alec said as he stopped pacing and stood in front of Magnus. 

“I don’t know,” Magnus replied. “I just know that I miss you.” 

“I miss you too,” Alec said softly, as he reached for Magnus’s hand. “Do you want to try again,” Alec asked. 

Magnus slowly nodded in response and felt Alec tighten his hold. “We still need to talk about this, Alec. Too many things were left unsaid, and if we’re going to make this work, we have to speak about it, but not tonight. Tonight I’m too tired and mentally exhausted.” 

“I should go and let you rest,” Alec said, pulling his hand out of Magnus’s grip. “I’ll come back tomorrow, and we can finish talking.” 

“Stay,” Magnus whispered. “I miss, and I haven’t been sleeping well. So,” Magnus breathed out, “please stay.”

“I’ll stay, Magnus,” Alec whispered. “I’ll stay,” 

**Six.**

It was late, but Alec and Magnus were wide awake, enjoying each others’ company. Alec was lying on his back, and Magnus spread out across him. Magnus’s chin was resting on Alec’s chest as his fingers gently traced patterns across Alec’s skin. 

Alec sighed in content at the feeling of Magnus’s fingers. It was something that he never thought he would feel again. Just five months ago, their relationship seemed so final, but now Magnus is lying on top of him as they never broke up. Of course, they talked more about what happened, what led to their split, and from there, they decided to navigate their relationship slowly, working on their communication. It was a slow process at first, but it was worth it. 

Alec listened to Magnus humming as the man still traced patterns on his skin. He was happy, he was in love with this man even after everything, and he knew he would always love him. “I love you,” Alec whispered, feeling Magnus’s fingers freeze against his skin and his humming stop. 

“What,” Magnus said, moving up on Alec’s body trying to catch the other’s eyes, but they were closed. 

“I love you,” Alec repeated a bit louder, opening his eyes to look into Magnus’s almost golden brownish eyes that were reflecting nothing but love in them. “I don’t know why I didn’t say it sooner but…”

“I love you too, Alexander,” Magnus whispered back, smiling down at the other before kissing Alec with everything he had. 

Alec melted into the kiss and sighed happily against Magnus’s lips. “I love you,” Alec whispered once again against Magnus’s lips as he pulled away slightly, feeling as if he wasn’t saying it enough. There were no more whispers in the dark or out of ear reach, they were free, and Alec never felt more content. 

  
  
  
  
  
  



End file.
